Hat block



Jan- 7, 1930- F. E. KAUFFMANN Y 1,742,397

HAT BLOCK Filed March 19. 1928 INVENTOR ATTO EY Patented Jan. 7,` 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFic-E Application filed March 19, 1928. Serial No. 262,703.

through the same medi-um the air can be released. It will be evident that when the cover is deflatedv the hat body 16 can be easily slid` over it andV then air is forced beneathv the cover or sheet 13 and the hat block is in- 55 This invention relates to an improved-hat block and is particularly designedfor supporting hats when being treated as in clipping or at any operation in which it is desired that the hat body be supported with a slight cushion eect.

The invention is also designed to hold `a hat body with the necessary tension but to allow an easy placing or removal of the hat body. This is especially desirable in the case of hats that are`thin and which are sometimes torn or the surface wrinkled when the hat body is forced over a hat block of the old style.

The invention consists of a a flexible cover which is only slightly larger than the block when air under pressure is admitted to the space or passage between the body of the block and the cover. This small space not onlyV allows a quick inflation and deflation of the cover on account of the small amount of air used to inflate it but the cushioning is not excessive and the hat body is supported with enough tension and stiffness 25 to make clipping and other operations easy as the hat body iscushioned but taut.V

The invention is. illustrated in the accompanying drawings in Vwhich Figure 1 is a section of a hat block made according to mv invention. Figure 2 is a similar section of a modified form.

In the drawings the hat block is shown at and it is secured by any suitable means such as a screw-threaded means 11 to ashaft or support, or it can be placed directly on the table when this is desired.

On the hat block is arranged a cover usually of rubber although any other flexible material can be used and this providesa spaced passage or chamber to whichair is admitted, the air being under pressure to the desired extent- Over that part of the hat block on which the hat is placed I arrange a covering which in Figure 1 consists ofy double walls, an inner wall 12 to fit over the hat block and an outer wall 13V spacedv from the iimer wall seras to form a narrow chamber or passage 14. Air under pressure can be admitted to this passage by means of a valve 15 of any-usual form such as a tire valve and hat body with cover of the hat to the small amount of air necessary to inflated to hold the crown of the hat body taut '5 and shaped. In this condition it can be easily operated on such as in hat. clipping in which Y the workman passes a clipper over the surface of the hat. TheseV clippers are mechan- 6o ically operated as by a flexible shaft but when 'i they are moved along the hat body a better result is securedwhen the hat is supported on a slight cushion rather than when it is supported yon a wooden hat block and there `or pipe alongside of the workbench and when the valve 15 is placed onY the end of the pipe @o which is also `supplied with a valve, the

block is at once inflated due flate it.-A This is done'as the hat body is put Y on the'block.` 75

lhen the hat body is to be removed from the hat block the stem of the valve 15 isl pressed against any solid object and air under pressure escapesthrough theV valve and thehat can be removed without pullingv or wrinso kling it. The cover can be secured by any. i" desired means such as a string or wire 17 which is secured around the groove in the thickened base 18 of the cover.

In Figure 2 I show amodilicat-ion in which 85 the cover 19 is asingle piece of flexible material larger than the block, to a slight eX- tent, andfastened tothe base -of lthe block so that it isairtight, as for instance, by v the ring 20 and the nails 21. This cover can, 9o in practice also be supplied with a vvalve through which air can be passed to infiate or deflate the cover as will be evident. n

It will also be evident that slight changes can be made in the construction yof the de- 1 invention.

Iclaim:- 71p@ A hat block comprising a block portion of a shape lapproximately that of a hat to be vice without departing from thevscope ofthe 7'" s eg less danger of cuttingr ridges lin, the hat by the operated upon, 'a exible covering portion slightly larger than the block portion and means for admitting fluid under pressure between said portions to slightly expand the size of the block and provide a slight cushion I effect.

Y In testimony 'whereof I aiinmy signa- FERDINAND E. KAUFFMANN.

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